The movement of objects and persons occurs continuously but is hardly quantified. Rather, typically only the result of the movement is known (i.e., object X moved from point A to point B; or, person Y ran to the store). Advances in technology have provided some quantification of movement. For example, GPS products now assist in determining the location of golf carts, vehicles and persons.
However, the detail of movement, minute to minute, second to second, is still not generally determinable in the prior art. For example, the movement of tangible objects typically involves (a) the shipment or carrying of goods and (b) electromechanical or motorized apparatus (e.g., planes, trains, automobiles, robots). The exact movements of such objects, and the conditions that they are subjected to, from point to point, are only qualitatively known. By way of example, a package is moved from location to location through delivery services like FEDERAL EXPRESS or UPS; however what occurred during transportation, and what transpired to the package, is anyone's guess. Occasionally, an object within the package is broken, indicating that the package experienced excessive abuse; but whose fault it is, or how or when it happened, are not known. What environments the package experienced is also not readily known.
The movement of persons, on the other hand, typically involves human-powered transportation, e.g., facilitated by biking, a wheelchair, or a motorized vehicle, e.g., a car. Body movement involved in transportation is subjected to many forces, some of which are dangerous. But the prior art does not provide for this knowledge; there is no effective way, currently, to efficiently quantify human movement. In sports, physical fitness, and training, precise information about movement would assist in many ways. By way of example, how effective a hand strike is in karate or boxing is, today, only qualitatively known. Quantitative feedback would be beneficial.
It is, accordingly, one feature of the invention to provide systems and methods addressing the afore-mentioned difficulties. A further feature of the invention is to provide methods and devices to quantify movement in a number of applications. Another feature of the invention is to monitor and report meaningful environment information such as temperature and humidity. These and other features will be apparent in the description that follows.